Infectious Diseases: Zoonosis

Zoonosis are infectious diseases that have been transmitted between animals and humans or in its advanced stage from human to human. It also can be transmitted from human to animal, when that happens it is called reverse zoonosis. Emerging zoonosis are infectious diseases that are newly recognized or newly evolved while re-emergence zoonosis have occurred previously but have more recently shown an increase in incidence or expansion into a new geographic, host or vector range. The concept of ‘emerging zoonotic diseases’ developed as health scientists documented and tried to explain the apparent abrupt rise in the number of new and important infectious diseases over the past two decades (Bengis et al., 2004). Zoonosis are vastly transmitted through wild life to domestic animals and livestock and it can be transmitted in different ways: 1)Viral, where some of the most known are: HIV, Ebola virus, Hantavirus, Rabies, Hendra virus, Nipah virus, Menangle virus infection, West Nile virus infection, Severe acute respiratory syndrome, Avian influenza and Monkeypoxvirus infection. 2) Bacterial: Lyme borreliosis, Ehrlichiosis, Bovine tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis), Brucella spp., Tularemia, Plague and Leptospirosis. 3) Parasite: Cysticercosis/Taeniasis, Rematodosis, Echinococcosis/Hydatidosis, Toxoplasmosis and Trichinellosis. 4) Fungi: Dermatophytoses and Sporotrichosis.

Zoonosis has been an unknown threat to human kind since the ancient times when sanitation was not a concern, and the consumption of bushmeat was largely spread. Zoonosis infection diseases started to become a real problem in society when agriculture started. Since people used to live in small groups and rarely have contact with different tribes. It all changed when pla...

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...ic disease (Leeflang et al., 2008).

Zoonotic infection diseases have always been a threat to world population, either animal or human. When it is not deadly it causes severe lesions usually costing high amounts to society. While some countries are handling zoonotic diseases pretty well, some (specially developing countries) are struggling with it. Even though no nation is a 100% safe from emerging and re-emerging zoonoses with all the different forms existing that acts differently in different locations. Zoonotic diseases was always around human kind, but with observations, research and studies for new emerging and re-emerging pathogens it has drastically improved in the past 20 years. The best way to still prevent it is high hygiene habits, early diagnoses with technical progress in diagnose it and also a cooperation between countries for a better world solution.